2003 Eitelsbacher Karthäuserhofberg Riesling Auslese Trocken “S”
Young ripe waxy riesling nose. Aggressively dry. Despite being rather too warm to appreciate it properly, this was rather good for a trocken. Very Good.

1960 Riesling Réserve, Léon Beyer, Alsace (half bottle)
Very old, slightly oxidised riesling nose. Initially it seems merely a bit old and dried out, although far from dead. But tasted again, about two and a half hours later, it reveals a bright clean mature riesling nose hinting at sort of BA type levels of ripeness. On the palate it is more clearly a fine Alsace riesling. Very full, with nice balance. Excellent.

1988 Corton Charlemagne, Domaine du Martray
Very elegant, soft old white burgundy nose. Lovely and round. Very well balanced. But very even and a bit uni-dimensional. Rather good though. Very Good.

1989 Chateau Mouton Rothschild
Slightly animalistic refined nose. Quite meat and rich on the palate. But not really sufficiently together on finish. Soft tannins with lovely structure. Very Good Indeed.

1987 Chateau Mouton Rothschild
Much more intense, less gamey nose than the ’89. Very elegant, quite light. Very well structured. Lovely soft tannins on the finish. Very Good Indeed.

1958 Marques de Riscal Elciego (Alava)
Mature ruby colour, but it doesn’t look anything like as old as 1958. Lovely old Rioja nose: nutty and slightly sweet. Going over the hill, but not gone. Touch of sweet fruit with the silkiest of tannins on the finish. Very Good Indeed.

1996 Petaluma Coonawarra Unfiltered 66% Cabernet Sauvignon: 34% Merlot
Next to the ’58 Rioja, this looks like Beaujolais Nouveau! – a youngish even ruby. Very clean blackcurrant and plums nose – quite sweet smelling. Lots of forward ripe fruit, but not at all OTT. This is a very good wine: not only complex, but also very enjoyable. Very Good Indeed.

1962 CVNE Imperial (I think this was from a half)
Mature looking with a touch of bricking. Animalistic VA nose but still some soft fruit. Light on the palate, with lots and lots of fruit still. This is really lovely. Excellent.

1995 Ch. Pichon Longueville Comtesse du Lalande
To judge by the colour, this is just starting to mature. Very nice, attractive nose. Quite rich and elegant, but seems far too young. Good.

2000 Vieux Télégraphe
Very very young looking. Smells like a grenachey young Cotes du Rhone plonk. Soft, still quite grenachey, fruit on the attack, but for the rest it is totally dominated by tannins. Complete infanticide.

2002 Bandol Cabassou, Domaine Tempier
Very young looking – a bright youthful purple. Rather closed violetty nose. Wow! What depths. Very elegant. Superb. Very Good Indeed.

1978 Ch. De Fonsalette Réserve
Nice mature colour. Animalistic and VA on the nose. The VA even comes through on the palate ruining it. Sweet and just a bit nasty.

1964 ‘believed Gevrey Chambertin’ No label other than the date slip. White capsule, no information on the cork. Very soft pinot noir nose, so perhaps not too much Hermitage in this! Golly, this is so alive. Lots of fruit, no VA and remarkably little ageing apparent. Still plenty of fruit on the palate and some good structure. Really lovely. Could easily put it twenty years younger. Very Good Indeed.

Mystery Wine

The keenly anticipated result of the afternoon’s “mystery wine” competition was also announced. During the afternoon the superBOWLers had the chance to taste an unknown red wine and guess its identity and price. The one who came closest would scoop the prize. The wine turned out to be: